Kathmandu, September 2

Members of the high-level task force formed to recommend to the government a new national policy on Health Profession Education today presented its report at the meeting of Parliamentary Committee on Women, Children, Senior Citizen and Social Welfare.

After presentation of the report, CA members affiliated to some medical colleges said the recommendations made by the task force was impractical and biased.

CA member Rajendra Panday, who is also the proprietor of Manmohan Medical College, said the report recommends reducing the number of MBBS seats instead of attracting foreign students by improving the quality of medical education.

“By doing this, the committee has also reduced the number of seats for free education to poor meritorious students,” he added. “Rather than creating new opportunities in medical education by granting affiliation to new medical colleges that meet minimum standards, the task force has recommended halting affiliation for a few years. This is a biased and impractical decision.”

Panday further said that it was not right for the  Mathema-panel and Dr Govinda KC, a senior orthopedic surgeon, who is on an indefinite hunger strike, to press the government to implement the report word by word.

CA member Ganesh Man Gurung said the government should create a strong regulatory mechanism instead of halting affiliation to new colleges. “The government should provide affiliation to medical colleges that have already acquired Letter of Intent.”

Meanwhile, Kedar Bhakta Mathema, chairperson of the high level task force denied the allegations. “We had prepared the report with aim of bringing about reforms in health profession education. The report does not intend to destroy any institution,” he said.

Mathema stated that the report recommends halting affiliation to new medical colleges as there are already too many nursing and medical colleges in the Kathmandu Valley. He also expressed ire at the CA members stating that the parliamentary committee was not a place to talk about personal interests.

He urged the government to strictly implement the report to bring about reforms in health profession education and save Dr KC’s life.